


A Contest for the Ages

by OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway



Series: Stormpilot Advent Calendar Part II [11]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Lights, M/M, Neighborhood Lights Contest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 10:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13029576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway/pseuds/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway
Summary: Poe and Finn are determined to win their neighborhood Christmas light competition





	A Contest for the Ages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QianLan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QianLan/gifts).



> This is for QianLan, who suggested the prompt "We must win the neighborhood lights contest"
> 
> I had a wild week so I'm going to be playing catch up with all the fics I missed so sorry for this being late!

“They’re doing it again.” Poe said, peering over his couch and out the window at their neighbor’s house.

“Poe, you know you don’t need to hide. This is our house.” Finn remarked from where he was sat on the floor, unballing yet another string of lights and sipping a mug of hot chocolate.

“I know. But they want me to know that they’re decorating. I can tell. If they see me, it means they’ve one. It’s all about the mind games, you see.” He tapped his temple wisely, although he was distracted when Finn threw a marshmallow at his head. 

“Why don’t you take a deep breath, Master Strategist, and help me get these lights untangled.” Finn laughed, smiling at his husband as the other slunk down from the couch to sulk. 

“Whatever. We’ve got to win this year. We never win!” Poe said, grabbing one of the strings of lights and starting to untangle it. 

“I know. We will. And we’re going to beat them. We’ve been planning this display since last year.” Finn said firmly, putting the now untangled ball of lights aside and grabbing the next one. 

“Hell yeah.” Poe grinned, briefly pausing to give him a high five. 

It was the yearly neighborhood lights contest, the time in which festivity and intense competitive spirits met to create outstanding, and admittedly rather obnoxious displays of lights. Some were pretty, some were cool, some were synchronized, and some were simply bizarre. Maz had some of the weirdest decorations anyone had ever seen. Of course, she also had the most, and had been decorating for more years than Poe or Finn had even been alive, so she always won the contest. Not that anyone really took it personally, in fact, Maz’s display was something of an event. She had collections of all kinds: light up versions of every Disney character, animals wearing Santa hats and holding gifts, and animatronics of elves, both Christmas ones and Lord of the Rings (where she had found a light up Legolas, Finn didn’t know). She won every year, but Poe and Finn were planning on coming for the prize. The only problem was their neighbors were too.

Jess and Rey, who were, respectively, Poe and Finn’s best friends, had become their greatest rivals. Snap and Karé were close behind, but they enjoyed the fun of participating more than they did the actual contest part. 

This year was already setting off to be one of the best years yet. Poe and Finn had been planning a display to defeat everyone else’s. It was going to be grand, the biggest spectacle this side of… the next nearest biggest spectacle. Poe had spent ages in the garage, shaping and twisting metal in order to create all sorts of shapes and designs for them to set up their lights while Finn had been working on ways to sync the lights up to music. They had bought dozens upon dozens of lights for this, and it was setting up to be amazing. All they needed to do was set everything up.

\-------

A few weeks later, Poe and Finn stood outside with the rest of their neighbors, waiting for the houses to be lit up one by one so that they could decide the winner. Putting up all the lights had been a little bit of a mess. It was difficult to string up every single set of lights, and the pair had collected a rather fine set of bruises as they had worked, from tripping over lights to bumping into parts of their display. But it had been worth it. While Jess and Rey had been out, Poe and Finn had tested their display, and it had been glorious. They were sure to win, and if they didn't, it would surely be close. 

“So, you guys ready to get your asses kicked?” Jess asked, sauntering up to the two of them.

Poe scoffed. “No, are you?”

“Of course not,” Rey said. “So it's good we won't have to.”

“Uh, yeah, you will. Because you're going to lose.” Finn countered.

“Nuh-uh,” Rey replied, crossing her arms. 

“Yuh-huh.” 

“Nuh-uh!”

“They're about to light all of the houses!” Poe interrupted their bickering, tugging on Finn's sweater so that he would pay attention.

Since she had won last year, Maz was the one who got to stand in front of the gathered crowd, holding the switch for all of the lights. She led them in a countdown before flipping the lights on each house. The neighborhood lit up like the Fourth of July, and the crowd erupted into cheers.

All around them, houses were lit up with brightly colored lights, some with inflatables, others with animatronics. A couple of houses had their lights syncing up with music, Poe and Finn's included.  Their house looked amazing. All of the shapes Poe had made, the Starship Enterprise, a snowman, a snowflake, a candy cane (Poe wouldn't admit that he had spent most of his time making sure that the Enterprise was just right and had just done the other few at the last minute, but Finn knew the truth) were all set up nicely, and Finn's program that matched the music, Mannheim Steamroller, to be specific, and the lights worked like a charm.

“Alright, not bad, nerds.” Jess nodded, begrudgingly impressed. “But take a look at that!”

She gestured back to her's and Rey's house, which was just as wonderfully decorated. All of the trees that they had planted in front of their house were covered in lights, and they had quite a few inflatables, including a cactus wearing a Santa hat.

“Oh, that's so cool!” Finn exclaimed, grinning at them. “All of the plants and stuff, that's awesome.”

Rey punched his shoulder, their rivalry forgotten. “You and you're being nice.” After a moment she added, “I got the cactus on sale.”

Finn laughed. Rey was always one to take up a good deal. “I love it.” he said, looking back at Jess and Poe, who were still side-eyeing one another, although it was teasingly now. “Come on, you two, let's look around the neighborhood.” 

The four of them were joined by Snap and Karé and they toured the neighborhood, pointing out everything they liked. At the end, they were all given the chance to vote, and, of course, they all voted for themselves. 

When everyone had voted, they all gathered around once more, waiting for the votes to be tallied up. When they were finished, someone, Finn didn't actually know who, stepped up to announce the official winner.

“I'm pleased to announce that the winners of this year's neighborhood lights contest are… Poe and Finn Dameron!”

The two men blinked, looking at one another and then all around. It took a moment for it to register, but when it did, they leapt into a hug and a firm kiss. 

“We did it! We did it, we won!” Poe exclaimed, kissing Finn. 

“We won!” Finn echoed, hugging him tightly. 

It took them a moment to part, and when they did, they noticed that everyone else was clapping, even Rey and Jess. 

“Good game?” Poe offered, smiling at them.

Jess grinned, reaching out to shake his hand. “Good game. It'll be an even better game next year, when we steal your throne, though.”

“Well, guess we'll have to start planning early.” Poe said, grinning ear to ear.

“Guess so. Now go on, stop gloating and get your prize.” She gave him a little shove, smiling as the pair went up to get the trophy.

A few hours later, Poe and Finn were curled up on the couch together, admiring their trophy. 

“So,” Finn started, looking at Poe. “I assume we're going to start planning again tonight?”

“Actually, I was thinking we just relax for a little while.” Poe said, resting his head on his shoulder. 

“Hm, I like the sound of that,” Finn murmured, getting comfortable.

“But I did have a few ideas earlier, so maybe we should start tomorrow?”

“How about the day after?” Finn offered. “So we have an extra day to revel in our victory.”

“....Alright. But just for the revels. Although I will start writing my ideas down, so I don't forget them.” Poe remarked. 

Finn kissed his head absently. “I wouldn't expect anything less.”


End file.
